It was one of the most anticipated events in recent weeks. Indeed, the French Football Federation (FFF) summoned an exceptional crisis meeting to approach several themes that have been hitting French football for many days: “Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, will bring together the representatives of the professional footballer Monday March 3 (5 p.m.) in Paris, at the FFF headquarters. A speaking will take place at the end of the meeting“, Was he written in the official press release of the FFF. This huge press point necessarily attracted all the spotlight at the start of the week. After the Fiasco of TV rights with the Dazn chain, doubts gravitating around CVC deal, the multiple scandals linked to refereeing recently involving Pablo Longoria and Paulo Fonseca or the questioning of the functioning of the National Management of Management Control (DNCG), French professional football is going through the biggest crisis in its history. In this sense, the president of the Professional Football League (LFP) Vincent Labrune, the Minister of Sports Marie Barsacq, the leaders of the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs, as well as representatives of the DNCG and the CVC fund were all present this Monday afternoon in the FFF offices.
On the program, several speeches were planned. It was the Minister of Sports, Marie Barsacq, who opened the meeting in front of the whole gratin of professional football. The president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, then continued, before the tour of the president of the LFP, Vincent Labrune. Subsequently, special attention was paid to CVC interventions. Well silent in the face of the recent TV rights crisis, the investment fund concluded a partnership with the LFP in April 2022 up to 1.5 billion euros compared to 13 % of the life income of the commercial company of the LFP. The DNCG, a financial control body for French football, has also taken stock of the finance of French clubs, at a time when several teams are struggling to get out of it and show concern if the next deadlines paid by the broadcasters were to be delayed. But the real debate of the day focused on the project of new governance of tricolor football proposed by the FFF, largely inspired by the model between the English Football Federation (FA) and the Premier League.
Exceptional presence of the Minister of Sports
In the surroundings of 6.40 p.m., the Minister of Sports, Marie Barsacq, left the scene and was able to debrief the first part of the meeting: “I believe that everyone salutes the initiative of President Diallo, to bring together all the actors of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to share an observation which is important today. And so there, I come out of this meeting, I found a working climate with a real awareness of different issues. The call for responsibility that everyone had expressing in the introduction both myself and also the president of the federation and the president of the league was important. The president of the DNCG also expressed itself to very objectively share the figures carried by the DNCG and which will be able to allow the model very quickly. It was really a very good thing. And now, I will let the club presidents discuss with each other to start drawing up the solutions and set the way for this refoundation of professional football. And I am rather optimistic about work. The image of football today is undermined and I have called for the responsibility of the leaders to restore this image and it notably goes on respect for the referees. It is essential. It is a non -negotiable point. There must be an effort that is made immediately by all professional clubs“She said. Meanwhile, Vincent Labrune, Philippe Diallo, the leaders of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 as well as the representatives of the DNCG and the CVC fund began the continuation of the program of this great exceptional summit.
She continued by tackling the TV rights and violence crisis in the stadiums: “My role is to be in support of football. Professional football is a real locomotive for football in general, but for sport too. Football is a common good, we are a football country in France. It is important that we have healthy football, because we have football fans and football is also the third educational place of our children. It is really a place where you learn to live together. I am alongside football to work on the issues that are my responsibility. Piracy is a subject that weakens diffusers. Dazn speaks on the subject, but other broadcasters and other sports have the same problem. With the Senators Savin and Lafon, we work so that there is a bill that comes to get the Arch and the clubs to do control and prohibit hacking as much as possible. The second issue is on supporting subjects. We need to have football stadiums that are respectful of everyone, so the fight against homophobia and racism are important issues».
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A highly anticipated press conference
At 7:30 p.m. precisely, the president of the FFF started his official press briefing after a meeting of more than 90 minutes. He first introduced his monologue by thanking all the leaders who made the trip this Monday afternoon, before quickly getting to the heart of the matter: “My role is to help him in this difficulty. I do not want to pre -empt the decisions or recommendations that clubs could make. But I raised a number of analyzes. I don't think we are in an air hole or a temporary failure. I think there is a structural problem. The economic model on which we have been resting for several decades, both on audiovisual rights and the transfers system, these two pillars are questioned. Our clubs must be able to integrate this data so that we adapt our model. In the same way on governance, (…) It is necessary to involve more strongly all the clubs in governance to correct certain things. This requires heavy reforms and we have big challenges in front of us. Clubs must be more involved in governance and in particular at the level of LFP Médias which is the structure which markets the income of professional football. It is necessary to carry out its reforms so that tomorrow French professional football is preparing the 21st century. The Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championships, since I go to the two, are of good quality. There are good players, there are goals, there are a lot of people in the stadiums. And unfortunately, the image that is reflected outside is not good. And our finances are not good. And so, it is on these elements that we must intervene. This is the mission that I gave and I see a little step back to let them work».
Subsequently, Philippe Diallo presented the first great novelty from the results of this meeting with the creation of three specific working groups: “I wanted groups to be able to build up this week. One that will concern governance, one that will concern the economic strategy and a third on financial control. These groups will be led respectively by Marc Keller, by Baptiste Malherbe and I wish it for the third group on the economic strategy by the duo Ivan Gazidis and Damien Comolli. There was no decision, in the sense that I did not vote on people. I wanted it to be a lucid awareness and especially that this meeting is founding. Founder of a movement that must bring French professional football to reform in depth. In depth in the analysis of its economic model and in its governance. I believe that there is an emergency on a certain number of themes and I wanted these groups to work quickly. This means that I will meet them in mid-April so that a first synthesis can be drawn from the work that will be carried out in the three areas that I have just indicated. On the basis of this work and syntheses, we will see the ways to take them with the minister if there is a need to go to the legislative ground». No president spoke out of the meeting at the FFF headquarters.
Last point addressed by Diallo: the financial situation of certain French clubs. It is obvious that with the TV rights crisis, a large number of leaders are worried about the future of their respective team: “Today, a number of clubs are in a very great difficulty and could ultimately be threatened in their existence. This is the reason why I believe that it is necessary, within a short time, that the clubs find the consensus and the balance necessary. I hope that the clubs work, that consensus are found and in mid-April, I will take my responsibilities to define the course to which I wish that we are going. I trust my clubs to ensure that, aware of the situation, aware that we have strengths, we can bounce back. You have to make French professional football bounce back. And, not only escapes the crisis, but puts itself on a trajectory which will make it even more attractive tomorrow than it is today. This Monday afternoon, the debates were serene, more like presidents and leaders responsible for our football. This was done in a healthy, reflection, transparent and taboo climate since the questions were addressed in an extremely clear way». After this meeting, the time has come to meet next April to gauge the margin of progression. Philippe Diallo and the FFF will have at least tried …
